The white cloud of smoke from Chuck's cigar circled his head. He puffed again needing to check himself. The anger that'd manifested overhearing what went down at St. John's Bail Bonds by someone other than Erikka had pushed him into a corner, and he wanted to come out swinging.

Wayne blocked the front door of Chuck's house. Glen sat on the railing on the porch, close enough to stop Chuck if he tried to go inside. How incredibly stupid could Erikka be?

The door opened, and Erikka peeked her head out. He pointed his cigar at her as his muscles bunched throughout his body. "Get inside."

The door closed, shutting her from his sight. His lungs failed to fill with air, and he took another puff from the stogie. He craved the struggle to keep breathing because it distracted him from the facts that'd been thrown at him tonight. It gave him something else to concentrate on besides wanting to go in the house and beat Erikka's ass for the danger she put herself into today when she'd opened her fucking car door and met with Markham.

"He's in police custody," said Wayne, reminding him the danger surrounding Erikka was over, for now.

"I told her to stick with Stan. There should've been no point when she went out that she was alone or could be caught alone. All she had to do was get in her car," he said, taking another puff before stubbing the cigar out in the sand-filled coffee can underneath the railing. "She fucking never called me. I had to hear it second-hand from Gomez."

He'd come home to an empty house expecting Erikka to be back from her errand and had instantly felt the tension of not having her near him when Gomez called and informed him that she was at the police station filing a report and they'd arrested Teegan Markham for threatening her. Every fear surrounding her exploded inside him.

He could've lost her.

"She's hurting," said Glen.

"You don't think I know that?" He rubbed his hand over his head. "Maybe now she'll think twice about putting herself in danger."

Glen whistled low. "You're being an asshole, bro."

He growled, frustrated having anyone's input at the moment. There was no point in this whole missing person case where fairness was his priority. Keeping Erikka safe, finding her sister, putting lives back together again was the whole point of why Notus agreed to search for Rachel.

Then, it had turned into more. Erikka's struggle became his, and he'd do anything to make sure nobody and nothing touched her.

If Markham weren't sitting in a jail cell at the moment, he'd find and kill him. There was nobody who could stop him. Not Erikka, not Notus.

"Did Gomez tell you what new charges are being pressed against Markham?" asked Wayne.

"Harassment," muttered Chuck. "Nothing overheard on the 911 call could be construed as a crime. The only thing sticking is Erikka's statement that she feared for her life and felt like she needed to pull a weapon out to protect herself. Per some law, Markham's bondsman has arrest authority, and because Erikka is well known and liked between the different businesses, Markham's bondsman delivered the bond to the P.D., and a warrant was put out for his arrest. They picked him up thirty minutes later."

"That has nothing to do with furthering the case against him for illegal gambling." Glen slid off the porch rail and stood. "What are the chances of the judge making these two different cases and he gets out on another bond?"

"Slim, because of the loyalty Erikka has from the other Bondsman in the community." Chuck shook his head. "I don't think the police know the bigger picture yet. Hell, I don't know where he fits in on the Stoddard case or how Rachel got tied into it."

"Maybe Erikka does." Wayne looked at the house and back at Chuck. "Talk to her."

He wanted more than anything to go inside and be with her. Though he couldn't trust himself. She'd scared the hell out of him.

"I'm going to head over to Thad's house. He's checking up on the message that was left about Rich." Glen took his riding gloves out of his pocket and slipped them on his hands.

"What message?" Chuck strained to concentrate. "I didn't hear anything."

"Listened to the call while we were waiting outside the station for you to get done with Erikka." Wayne hooked his hands under his armpits. "Kurt from Bantorus MC out of Idaho mentioned there was a John Doe found in his area. He wanted to talk to us because what was left of the guy, he had a leather vest on."

Chuck closed his eyes an extra beat. "Left of him?"

"Set on fire and dumped." Wayne's gaze hardened. "They can't read any of the patches because of the damage. The sheriff has him in the morgue until he can be identified."

Two months ago, they'd notified every territorial motorcycle club in the Northwest and Inner Northwest to be on the lookout for a lost Notus member. Chuck gritted his teeth. "It's not him. It can't be Rich."

"We don't know," said Glen. "We'll need to check it out."

He refused to believe Rich was dead. Closer than brothers at one time, he would've felt or known if Rich was in trouble.

"Let's not jump ahead of ourselves. We've checked John Doe's before." Wayne walked off the porch and turned back to Chuck. "It was never him. Let's keep our heads about this lead. In the meantime, go talk to your woman and find out all you can about where we're sitting. Something has got to break soon."

He waited out on the porch until Glen and Wayne rode away, then rubbed his face, knowing he needed to go inside and deal with Erikka. He'd failed her.

His decision to let her go meet a work associate had been wrong. She could've waited an hour until he had a chance to go with her after work. His decision to take Thalia's murder out on Rich had also been wrong. If he hadn't fought him, blamed him, Rich would still be here with them and riding with Notus Motorcycle Club.

He'd made too many mistakes in his lifetime.

He opened the door and stepped inside, spotting Erikka instantly in the dining room looking out the sliding glass doors into the backyard. His chest tightened at the way she stood alone. He should be with her, not dealing with his fucking anger.

Walking toward her, he let his feelings go. He wouldn't let her suffer alone again.

He wrapped his arms around her and brought her back to his chest, inhaling her sweet scent, assuring himself that she was okay. She was here. She belonged to him.

"You scared the hell out of me, love," he whispered in her ear. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

She turned and lifted her arms to his neck, pulling him down and kissing him. "I know. I'm sorry, I put you through that. At the time, all I could think about was finding out more information."

"I could've done that for you." He smoothed the hair back from her face. "I need to do that for you."

Her gaze softened. "But, you weren't there."

"I should've been."

She closed her eyes and then looked at him. "Stan Voltner mentioned Mr. Markham's arrest to me when I met him at Bail Bonds. He said Markham had been bonded for half a million dollars. Apparently, Stan has a client that talks and he'd mentioned Tony Stoddard was set up by Markham and his crew. When I heard that, my mind was racing. Not once has Lieutenant Gomez mentioned anything about illegal gambling surrounding Stoddard. His charges revolved around stolen money from the casino. The casino versus Stoddard. From the start, Mr. Markham has been after Stoddard. Why? That's something we haven't understood, and Markham was never brought up regarding Rachel missing with the police. I didn't even point fingers at him when his men harassed and threatened me or broke into Bail Bonds."

"Keep talking." He let go of Erikka and concentrated on where she was going with the story.

"It hit me when Stan left." Erikka rubbed her hands together. "Mr. Markham is desperate to find Stoddard. What if it's because that was the person who he'd framed for the missing money when the whole time, it was Markham running illegal gambling within a legit casino? Could Markham have believed he was safe as long as he got rid of Stoddard or could try and place his crimes on Stoddard and have him take the fall, which is why he was originally looking for him?"

"Except, Markham was arrested afterward," said Chuck.

Erikka raised her brows. "But, I don't think the outcome Markham wants changes because he got arrested. If he can bring back Stoddard, he could push all the crimes onto him. He's a man facing hard time in prison if found guilty. If he somehow pinned Stoddard, Markham has a chance to walk away clean."

Chuck went over the possibilities. For a man like Markham, if Stoddard was innocent and Markham couldn't use him, he'd want Stoddard dead. Then, there would be no chance of the truth coming out.

"We're missing the crime. We know Markham is mixed up in some shady shit. The illegal games at the casino, and he's the man in charge. Why would he need more money or to steal from the casino? Unless he's laundering money," said Chuck.

Erikka shrugged. "I told Lieutenant Gomez the same thing and received a lecture about keeping information from him about Markham's harassment since the beginning—and he doesn't believe Markham can be charged with the vandalism at Bail Bonds because there's no proof. I told him that until Markham was arrested for illegal gambling, there wasn't a damn thing they could do to him, and I couldn't risk Rachel's life in case Markham knows where she's located. God, what if this has blown up to something that makes finding Rachel impossible? I really thought that Markham was only after Stoddard, and Stoddard was holding Rachel captive. But, he took her out of the country. Why would he do that?"

Chuck walked into the kitchen and picked up two water bottles from the fridge, returning to Erikka's side, and handed her a drink.

The one thing that'd bothered him since the beginning was starting to gain a foothold. He sat down at the cardboard table, set his bottle on the surface, and patted his thigh. Erikka more than sat down in his lap. She relaxed and became one with him. He wrapped his arms around her. Hit one more time by how deeply he was falling in love with her, he held her tightly.

She calmed him like nothing else.

"I want you to think about something before you answer me." He nuzzled her neck. "Is it possible your sister was involved with Markham or any of his activities at the casino?"

Erikka's body stiffened and then relaxed again. He rubbed her back. Sometimes family was the last to see and know what was going on with their loved ones. They only found out if the missing person returned home, and sometimes the truth rocked the foundation of what they believed.

"Is Rachel personally involved with his criminal activities? No." She laid her head in the crook of her neck. "Romantically, I don't know. When she disappeared, I would've said absolutely not, but I don't know what is going on anymore or why Mr. Markham is so desperate to find her."

She might never know the answer if Galeeno failed to find Rachel in Cabo. It could already be too late. He held her tighter. It might even be too late to get Rich home, depending on who the John Doe turned out to be. One thing he understood, a loved one was never ready to face the truth.